All valid points. People who've worked in retail know the hell it can be to work in retail, yet no one complaining about those people not getting tips. And please no one bring in the under minimum wage excuse, not for places like California.

so you must be a bigger asshole for not tipping your bagger or janitor.

Or what about being an asshole for demanding tips or threaten to spit in your food.

that is true. They have to be paid minimum wage, whereas servers/bartenders do not. Still, when I was in the industry, the servers killed what we made. I made ~15/hour at my last cooking gig and the servers there would generally clear 200-300 per dinner shift. So, here I am, actually making all of the delicious food and walking away with 60-90 a night (depending on the day and what post I was stationed at), while the person who brought them the food made more than 3 times that much? Always made me mad, but I digress.

Customer service is just as and at times more important than the food itself.

Go to review sites and people will praise the food, but stop going to a restaurant based on the service. Then there's restaurants that are just okay, but customer service brings people back.

Shit, I know many people that stopped going to restaurants due to bad service even tho they loved the food there.

I do understand your POV, but they play a huge role in the success of a restaurant.

I tip generally tip well. If the service isn't up to par I pay the minimum, only once have I tipped inappropriately. A server was rude and I wanted to kick his ass, but to make a point I left 50cents as a tip. I tend to get good-great service for the most part, rarely have I received sub par service and if I did, the server was always apologetic. Usually because they were busy and whatnot, so I can understand.

If tipping was eliminated then prices will go up. FACT! The market would eventually even itself out to where you would be spending about the same amount of money as you were when tipping. Now your forced to pay regardless of the kind of service you get, with no option to not tip. It's pretty freaking simple.

This. Then you'll be stuck with high costs at restaurants as well as shitty service, just like here in Australia. It's pretty damn obvious those crying about tipping are those who mad as hell they we're too dumb to get a decent education, thus a job. Get a job you bums. Maybe as a waiter, seeing as though you think they're swimming in cash.

Why do you tip based on a % of your bill? What if you came with some friends and you all snacked on appetizers and tossed back some drinks, requiring more frequent stops to your table but netting a relatively small bill. Do you still tip 15-20%?

What if an Applebee's server gave you great service but a server at a more high end restaurant gave you just above average service, do you tip the above average guy more because your bill was more?

I just don't get why people gauge their tips based on what their meal cost, and not on what they feel the server actually deserved for what they did. Or, for that matter, why 2-3 bucks is considered a bad or average tip.

People are so locked into their way of thinking that they fail to realize that other countries have cultures(yes there is civilization outside of NA) that tipping isn't mainstream. They do their job just because they have work ethic and don't need extra incentive to give their best. Sundizz touched on this, ShannonElements also did YEARS ago. So restaurants do survive without tips. It actually happens guys.

The vast majority of us tip on this board and we all have our own reasons. I hate the concept and agree with Rad's breakdown, it's basically extortion. Growing up my mom was a waitress and my dad was a dishwasher/cook. I was raised to tip well but even they don't like the economics of the business. It's all ****ed.

The concept of paying your employee like shit and making them rely on the customer doubly for a living wage is downright sinister.